The Legend of Spyro: Apocalypse
by Sir Areis Lionheart
Summary: Moments after the mass destruction of the Herrmann-Reid Armoured Division, Spyro, Cynder, and friends are whisked away to a new world full of adventure, new friends...and a new menace. Rated T: For Violence, Mild Language, and Sexual Content
1. Chapter I: After the Storm

**_Part I: The New World_**

**_Chapter I: After the Storm_**

_The Valley of Avalar_  
><em>December 13th<em>  
><em>12:17 PM<em>

The sun shined brightly as it began to pierce the smoky haze left by the smoldering corpses of the armored tanks of the Hermann/Reid Armored Divsion. Around the burning Fort Kelly was a graveyard of scrap metal. Spyro, weakened greatly by the darkness he had unleashed, walked to General Elliot, leaning against Cynder for support.

The general, lit cigar smoldering unsmoked between his tobacco-stained fingers, stared in numb shock and disbelief at the sight before him. 4000+ tanks, reduced to scrap metal, and the severely outnumbered and outgunned Allies mostly intact. It was nothing short of a god-given miracle in the general's eyes.

Sgt. Randall Carter Fox, watching as Spyro and Cynder trudged along across the crater-laden turf ran up to the duo. He picked up Spyro in a fireman's carry and chuckled softly to himself as Cynder panted and collapsed, relieved that the weight of her boyfriend (she was proud to call him so), had been relieved from her heaving shoulders.

Spyro ignored Randall, seeming to care less about his dignity and the awkwardness of the sight of the human carrying a full-grown dragon. "You okay Cynder? Or do I need to call a medic?" Randall taunted.

"I'm not in any mood for your witty remarks Fox."

"You were in that tent for a long time...what were you two doing?"

"Talking..."

"Uh huh, sure."

"...and we...um...kissed."

Randall raised his eyebrows in mock amusement.

"Don't start Fox, I'm not in the mood."

Randall led them over to Elliot, still staring in dumb amazement.

Cynder asked in mild amusement, "You okay Elliot? Or are you having a heart attack or a stroke or something."

He started, as if awakening from hypnosis, "What? Oh, I'm just...stunned to say the least...that your boyfriend wiped out the entire division..."

"He can be amazing."

"So I take you two are an item now?"

"What?"

"You didn't deny it."

"There's nothing to deny."

"So it's true then."

Cynder blushed and looked away nervously.

"I take that as a yes. Hey Fox, how is he?" Elliot nodded towards Spyro.

"Unconscious...but alive."

Elliot nodded faintly, "Good. That boy deserves a medal. If I only still had standing in the US military, I'd put his name in for a Medal of Honor."

Suddenly, Spyro began to mumble in his sleep, and his unhealthy, pale violet scales adopted a macabre black glow. The group suddenly collapsed, dizzy, and clammy. There was a flash of light, and they all blacked out...


	2. Chapter II: Awakening

**_Chapter III: Awakening_**

...Darkness. Pure, macabre, darkness.

Spyro opened his eyes to see that he was no longer in the Valley of Avalar, in Fort Kelly, but he was somewhere else.

He was surrounded by trees, the world was illuminated by a ghostly, unnatural light. Spyro looked up to see that a white vortex, appearing similar to what a galaxy in space would look like, was swirling lazily. _This can't be good_, Spyro thought to himself.

A single, high-pitched siren resounded, frightening the young dragon. He looked long enough to see a strange, metal vehicle speeding off, colored lights spinning wildly.

_Where am I_? he thought, panic settling in, _What's going on here_!

"Spyro..."

The weak voice broke his paralysis and fear. He spun around to look at Cynder, face contorted in pain. He ran up to her. "Cynder! My God, what happened?"

"Help me up..." her fragile voice trailed off.

He did.

Cynder grimaced as she put her weight on her left foreleg. Spyro, astounded, saw the cause of her discomfort. The dark green grass of the midnight forest was darkening to a black shade, but Spyro knew that wasn't some black liquid. Cynder collapsed again, moaning as she landed harshly on her wounded leg. Spyro observed the wound, the fall-if that was what it was-had broke her leg, causing a compound fracture. Carefully, attempting to calm Cynder as well as his trembling paws, he reset the jutting bone and then tied a plastic sack he found caught in a bush to the injury. It would hold...but barely.

If he didn't get Cynder to a surgeon soon, infection would settle in and...

No...he couldn't bear to think that way.

"Don't worry Cynder," he whispered to her, "You'll be okay."

She was crying now, "What's happening Spyro? Where are we?"

And then she said something that touched Spyro's heart.

"Spyro," she said, "I...I'm scared."

He allowed her to rest her head in the crook of his forearm as she cried silently. When she had regained control of herself, she lifted her head from Spyro's shoulder. Her beautiful blue eyes were bloodshot and tearstained. She looked away, humiliated. Spyro moved Cynder's head to stare into his eyes, she put up no resistance.

Looking into the black dragon's fear-stricken eyes, Spyro felt his own display a warning sign that the water would start flowing soon. She was still choking on her sobs, and she was absolutely terrified. Spyro hoped that he was hiding his own fear successfully. "I'm sorry," she said, looking away again. 

"Don't be."

He kissed her without giving her a chance to reply.

When their lips parted, he said, "I will make sure you remain safe, don't worry."

She nodded, still pleasantly surprised by Spyro's deed.

"We need to find the others," Cynder replied.

"I know; however..." and he turned his attention to the ever-spinning vortex.

Cynder followed his gaze, "What is that?" she said, the panic and hysteria returning with threatening speed.

Attempting to calm her down, he forced her to look back into his eyes, she calmed again, "Don't look up at it Cynder."

"What is it?"

Truthfully, he replied, "I don't know, but something tells me that is how we got here...wherever 'here' is."  
>"Where's Fox and Elliot?"<br>"I don't know."  
>"Where's Piermont?"<br>"He's-" Spyro's words were cut off.  
>Cynder didn't know that the old, kind dragon was dead. He didn't have the heart to tell her that the forest dragon had sacrificed his life to save the purple dragon's when Spyro had the chance to tell her.<br>Cynder immediately changed the topic, "What are all those lights?"  
>"I don't know...but I can tell you one thing, we're not in Avalar anymore."...<p>


	3. Chapter III: New York City

**_Chapter V: New York City_**

Spyro led Cynder through the strangely lit forest. Above, the single glowing white vortex lazily spun on and on, ominous in its existence. Several times they had to break to ensure that the makeshift tourniquet was still on. Spyro noted that Cynder was becoming feverish, and that she was beginning to complain that her head "felt liquified". The infection was already settling in, and the shock of the injury was beginning to fade.

"Hold on here Spyro," Cynder said, and she vomited. Spyro stood by her, keeping an eye and an ear out for any suspicious activity. When she had finally finished, and all that came was bile, Spyro took his own break to relieve himself while Cynder waited by a wood bench, waiting for the bout of nausea to pass. When Spyro returned, they pressed forward, and in no time at all, they emerged from the forest into a frighteningly large city of metal buildings.

Vehicles sped past, never slowing, and pedestrians spared not even a passing glance at the swirling vortex. "Something tells me they can't see the portal," Spyro whispered, and was stunned by Cynder's appearance. The she-dragon had paled tremendously, and her bloodred leg had swollen tremendously. She shivered feverishly and Spyro saw that the clotted blood that had formed over gunshot wounds had broken off, allowing fresh blood to flow. Spyro then observed himself, and found he was no better. His blood-and-mud encrusted chest was weirdly deformed and swollen. They both needed urgent medical attention, and given that the city was thrust in the heart of a deadly midsummer heat wave, the purple dragon still shivered from the feverish cold.

Spyro headed on to the asphalt street...the next few minutes were some of the worst of his life...

There was a screeching sound, followed by a long, deafening sound that frightened the dragon, and just when he thought nothing could get any worse, he felt something hard hit him along the side, knocking him off the road. The squealing continued before Spyro, teetering on the border of unconsciousness and consciousness heard a loud crashing sound, sounding distant to him. That loud alarm blared on and on, and more cars were crashing as they slammed on their brakes and were rear-ended. "Spyro!" Cynder called distantly. The purple dragon's hearing was muffled, he could hardly hear anything. His heart beat slowly in his ears, canceling out on other sounds. He was vaguely aware of a hot fire that burned in his side.

He saw through a veil of black and gray, and he could see the single vortex, the one nobody saw, spinning on and on. Cynder ran up to him, and, although he felt nothing now, he could sense her wedging her muzzle beneath him, and trying to lift him. He couldn't move, his numb limbs felt like dead weights. His hearing dimmed threateningly, and then winked out. He was now staring at the world in horrible silence. His vision slowed, and he could see Cynder moving around, only she seemed to be out of her outline. He couldn't explain it, but it was as if time itself had slowed to a snail's crawl. She looked back at him, screaming his name repeatedly, but he couldn't hear her. "Cynder..." he felt himself saying, but he didn't know if he said it, or mouthed it. "Cynder...Cynder help me."

The way her eyes widened with shock, told Spyro everything, filling his heart with dread. She knew he was in pain, and she had heard those words. "Cynder...save yourself...get outta here..."

She shook her head vigorously, and Spyro read her lips to see that she had said, "No, I'm not leaving you. Never again."

He wanted to say something else, but before he could, he winked out of consciousness. The last thing he saw was a single teardrop slide down Cynder's cheek...


	4. Chapter IV: ER

**_Chapter VII: ER_**

"Move! We need to get him to the OR immediately!"

"Christ, what is he wearing? I've never seen an outfit like this before."

"Get his costume off! NOW!"

Cynder followed closely behind, oblivious of the puzzled looks around her. Spyro sat on the gurney, pulsing in and out of consciousness. His heart was pulsing slowly occasionally giving out completely, but with a steady shock, he would snap back. Blood oozed from his injuries, and his foreleg, twisted at an unnatural angle, was suffering from a compound fracture.

The medics were attempting to reset the bone, but were nevertheless confused by the strange costumes. Cynder, still in shock after watching the purple dragon get hit by a car, stood speechless as she watched the attempts to help him. Never before had she seen so much blood, and she worried that he wouldn't make it.

"Hey! You!" Cynder looked at the candystriper that was calling her. She walked up to the young teenager.

"What do you want?" The black dragon asked moodily.

"How do we get your boyfriend's costume off?"

Cynder was puzzled by this statement, "Costume?"

"Yeah, costume. Obviously that dragon costume isn't real. Now, how do we get it off."

"It's not a costume."

"Please, this isn't the time to kid around. Your boyfriend could be in danger and-"

Just then, the door to the emergency room opened, and a gruff-looking male nurse called to the dragon, "I am guessing you are Cynder?"

Cynder nodded, "Yes."

"He is asking for you."

Cynder's eyes filled with almost certain dread, and she entered the emergency room.

The event adopted a dreamy quality, and Cynder wandered into the bowels of the hospital. She ignored the staring eyes, the kids screaming, "Look! It's Cynder from 'Spywo'."

She ignored and kept on moving. The doctor paused in front of a room and nodded for Cynder to enter. She hesitated, standing in place for a few moments, and then breathing a deep breath, she entered.


	5. Chapter V: Spyro and Cynder I

**_Chapter IX: Spyro and Cynder (I)_**

Cynder entered the hospital room Spyro had. She felt the first sting as tears came to her eyes. Spyro, seemingly helpless, lay on the hospital bed, semiconscious. He was breathing heavily, and hooked up to an array of wires and machines. Cynder saw that there were stitches in his chest, and hind legs. For several minutes Cynder gaped at the purple dragon, the only person she had ever loved, in a state of complete immobility and suffering.

"Spyro?" She asked quietly. Her voice didn't sound like hers, it sounded as if it belonged to a small girl. "Spyro? Are...are you awake?"

No reply from the young dragon.

After several minutes, with tears streaming uncontrollably, Cynder turned to leave, unable to grasp what had happened. Her heart ached for him, and seeing Spyro in this state only hurt Cynder more. For the first time, she contemplated suicide, but only briefly. "Cynder..." A small voice said weakly.  
>At first, Cynder thought she had imagined it, it didn't sound like Spyro, more like a little boy.<br>"Cynder, c...come here..."

That wasn't her imagination, Cynder was immediately at her boyfriend's side.  
>"Cynder, I don't have a lot of time..."<p>

"You do! You have all the time in the world, and so do I, we will get through this, I swear."

"Cynder, the d...the docs said they were p...putting me in a medically induced coma. They said I only ha...have a f...few minutes..."

"Why?"

He weakly shrugged, "They said that my...that my heart sustained damage. They said that my ribcage had been broken in several places, that one of my ribs punctured my heart. Listen to me...please..."

"I'm listening Spyro."

"Cynder...you are the single greatest thing that has ever happened to me. If I don't make it through this, carry on, continue and live happily ever after. You understand?"

Unable to speak because she was sobbing so hard, Cynder nodded vigorously.

"Listen to me Cynder..."

She crawled closer, their muzzles were almost touching. "Yes?"

He kissed her, and for several long moments, Cynder felt happier than ever before. When their lips finally parted, Spyro said, "Cynder. I...I love you..." his voice trailed off and he closed his eyes as consciousness left.

Unable to control herself, she collapsed under her grief and lapsed into a hysterical sob. She suddenly sensed someone behind her, and a soft voice said, "He is only sleeping..."

Cynder nodded, but the pleasant voice adopted a tone of pure malice, "And soon," it continued, "You will be too."

Cynder had no time to react as a strong-smelling damp rag was pressed forcefully to her mouth and nose. She began to panic, but the voice shushed and began to sing a twisted lullaby. "Hush little baby don't you cry, mama's gonna sing you a lullaby. And if you do not say a word, papa's gonna buy you a hummingbird."

Panic gave way to euphoria as oxygen was cut off to Cynder's brain and she began to lapse towards semi-consciousness. Her vision dimmed and her senses numbed and the last thing she perceived before slipping into deep unconsciousness was the rag's strong odor.

_End of Part I_  
><em>To Be Continued...<em>


	6. Chapter VI: The Dream

**_Part II: Incarceration_**

**_Chapter XI: The Dream_**

Spyro looked up at the beauty of the sunset over the estuary. He didn't know where he was, he didn't care, but he did remember stories Piermont had told about Martaan-his homeland-and how it was magical at twilight when the sun reflected from the dark blue waters of the estuary. Spyro felt his heart sink at that, the dragon had sacrificed himself for Spyro's safety. But the sheer and spellbinding beauty of the estuary made the sadness evaporate. _Where am I?_ he thought, _and how did I get here?_

"Spyro?" A voice called out.

"Yes?"

"Spyro!" Cynder hugged him and kissed him fiercely, "My God I'm glad to see you are alright! I was so worried!"

"I'm okay Cynder, what about you?"

She nodded vigorously and hugged him tightly again. Spyro felt wet warmth on his shoulder and knew she was crying. "I'm glad to see you are alright!"

"I was so worries about you! I thought you were...oh! I just can't say it."

"I'll be fine...what about you?"

"Good enough I suppose...where are we?"

"I don't know...but it's-"

"It's beautiful."

"It is."

Just then, Spyro felt an overwhelming sense of love for her, and he believed that he would sacrifice himself to save her life. He looked at her and was stunned speechless to see that she looked more beautiful than ever as the sinking sun illuminated her black scales and seemed to make her glow in some kind of yellow aura. "I love you Cynder."

"I love you, too."

They locked eyes for a moment, "It's amazing how former enemies can become lovers."

"We are not lovers yet."

"How?"

"Lovers are mates, which, of course, we are not...at least yet anyway."

"Oh."

"Piermont had explained to me that mates feel a deep spiritual connection something more powerful than an individual feels. He says mates share emotions, thoughts at times, and even dreams. He says a mated pair of dragons is a specially bonded pair. He says mates, both parties, rarely feel lonely, unless one of the pair dies and the bond is broken."

"And when did you find all of this out my love?"

"A day or two before the Hermann/Reid Division attacked Fort Kelly."

"Oh. What led you and him to talk about it?"

She said nothing, only blushed.

"C'mon, tell me, I won't mind, I promise."

"You will laugh at me."

"No, I won't. Do you not know me at all?"

She sighed, "Spyro, I asked because I was afraid we would be unable to advance in our relationship before we died."

"What?"

"Piermont said a destined-to-mate pair would know who was the right one because a first love both feels tells them. The first pair to truly love each other is the destined pair. Obviously, I didn't care about love till now, and I doubt you have loved anyone until now."

"No, not really."

"Then destiny has arrived and we are decided, like it or not."

There was a few moments of silence before Spyro said, "And that's the truth?"

"Yes."

"Cynder..." He said tentatively.

She turned a stunning sapphire-emerald eye in him, "Yes?"

"Let's not keep destiny waiting. If we are meant to...to be together, then let's be together," he looked away, embarrassed.

She laughed, a beautiful sound, "I was thinking the same thing."

As the sunk sank, and the full moon began to shine brightly down upon the serene estuary, witnessed by the gods, destiny was fulfilled...or so they thought...

...Spyro awoke in a dimly lit room, longing for the dream to return. Sleep was not so kind. He looked to his left, Cynder was strapped tightly to a table, unconscious, and the purple dragon panicked to realize he was too.

The door to the room opened and a green, fully armored-clad soldier looked in, his dirty gold helmet visor reflecting the dim room.

"It is time," he said...


	7. Chapter VII: Captured and Sedated

**Chapter XIII: Captured and Sedated**

"Wh...who are you?" Spyro choked weakly.

The armor-clad figure just continued to stare at the purple dragon in silence, and then the figure just disappeared, closing and locking the door to the cell Spyro was in. He was connected to an array of wires and machines, monitoring his life. He was horrified to see he was connected to a feeding tube, and was connected to a bag that collected his waste.

"Where am I?" He asked himself, frightened at how weak his voice sounded. He wanted the dream to return, pleaded for it. Now, frightened, lost, his body was on high alert and sleep refused to come near him. "Cynder..." He whispered.

"Cynder, where are you?"

He felt strange. He had never felt so numb in his life. He had been sedated, again, and this time, he felt more sluggish and nauseous then ever.

_I have to get outta here, I have to. If only I knew where 'here' is_, he thought unhappily.

Suddenly, the cell door slammed open and three men entered. Spyro recognized two of them instantly, but the third was that mysterious armored soldier. "Fox! Elliot! Thank God!"

Elliot silently shushed him by miming zipping up his lips and then miming someone slitting his throat. The armored man closed and relocked the door as Elliot and Fox ran up to Spyro's side. The armored soldier crouched by Spyro's side and said, "Are you alright? How are you feeling?"

Confused, Spyro replied, "Sluggish, sick."

Fox said, "We need to figure out a way to get you, Cynder, and Piermont out of here. Their son will help us."

Confused even more, the purple dragon stated, "But Piermont is dead! The Hermann/Reid killed him! I watched him die!"

Fox, sounding equally as surprised said, "I know, Junior was killed as well...a long time ago. Somehow, he's alive again."

"Junior? This guy?" Spyro nodded towards the armored man.

"No! Junior as in Piermont junior, Piermont II, Piermont and Cherub's son. This is Master Chief S117, I remember him from the Halo games, somehow he got here as well, no doubt the same way we did."

"How did you get here?"

Fox shook his head, "There will be storytime later, not now though, we have to leave now. The Chief, Elliot, and myself will figure out a way to get you outta here, don't worry."

"What about Cynder?"

"She's in a different room, we have to keep her sedated to keep her from having a freaking nervous breakdown," Fox smirked at this, "We will try to get her transferred here, or you there, so if anything you two can pass the time being strapped here in your own personal slice of Hell talking to your girlfriend about lost time and maybe becoming mates someday."

Spyro's jaw dropped as Fox almost described his dream, luckily, all the humans were looking elsewhere.

The Chief said, "Just hold on a little longer kid, we'll get you and your girlfriend out of here."

They left, leaving Spyro alone.


	8. Chapter VIII: Incarceration Part I

**Chapter XV: Incarceration ****_Part I_**

"Dragon! Wake up NOW!"

The voice startled him, and Spyro awoke, the dream had returned, of course, and it had been crudely interrupted far too early. At first, Spyro hoped to see the Chief, but, alas, fate was unkind, and Spyro found himself about to kiss the black barrel of a Frinesi 12-guage shotgun, Spyro unwittingly stood, grunting as his front and rear paws were handcuffed tightly.

Within five minutes, Spyro was kindly "escorted" outside the infirmary and across the fortress complex to what was no doubt a maximum security prison. At first, Spyro wondered if this was Randall's and Elliot's genius plan to get him transferred in with Cynder, of course he was not having the best of days for luck, and he was crudely thrown into a tiny, sponge-lined cell that didn't even have such simple luxuries as a bed, sink, and toilet.

Still handcuffed (and now strapped in a freaking strait-jacket) Spyro protested, "Hey! What am I supposed to do?"

The patrolman walking the cell block (Cell Block D according to the large sign), called, "Dunno, don't care. Three meals a day, one hour each day for recreational purposes, and a five minute shower; the rest of the day is up to you."

"What about a place to relieve oneself?"

"That's what that plastic bucket in the corner's for, have fun."

The guard laughed, walking away.

On the wall across the hall, through the bars (padded, of course), the wall-mounted analog clock read shortly after 6 in the AM.

As the hour hand advanced from 6 to 7, Spyro decided to explore his new, claustrophobic environment. In the dead center of the cell, the focal point of the entire solitary confinement cell, was a dark stain. Spyro highly doubted that that was just a cup or two of prison-grade chocolate pudding that had spilled, and that doubt was only enforced by the fact that the opposite wall from the bars was riddled with bullet holes, and yet another dark, maroon stain dominated the dingy-yellow sponge-covered wall.

High noon came, Spyro enjoyed his wonderful meal of overcooked chili and slightly charred grilled cheese and found himself in a depressing, grassless square garden surrounded by a high, stone wall and topped with a tangle of electrified barbed wire. Around him, fellow prisoners sat around; smoking, gambling, telling stories, and lifting weights. All eyes were on him, and seeing these as the eyes of rapists, gangbangers and murderers, the young purple dragon male felt understandably uncomfortable.  
>Pacing the courtyard, Spyro happened on a welcoming site across the prison's compound...Cynder. Glancing around to make sure he was alone, Spyro said, "Cynder! Psst, Cynder!"<p>

Starting, she looked around the courtyard (her rec area belonged to the women's prison-block). She saw Spyro and they locked eyes. Hers were full of joy and relief, but also of sorrow and hurt. Spyro felt bad for her, and he silently promised he would make it up to her. Seconds later, the prison bell sounded and Cynder was "escorted" at gunpoint back into the women's compound. For another half an hour, Spyro wandered the courtyard, before the prison bell sounded once more, and Spyro was led into the abyssmal male prison...

_To Be Continued..._


	9. Chapter IX: Incarceration Part II

**Chapter XVII: Incarceration ****_Part II_**

Spyro was awakened by the blaring of the prison bell. The lights of the cell block flashed on, blinding the dragon, the prisoners awoke, and Spyro could hear their muttered complaints. The guards began to usher out the prisoners, firearms raised. A guard entered the dragon's cell kicking him in the flank before leading him out with the butt of the shotgun. He was escorted to the joint cafeteria, and his spirits lifted when he saw Cynder, sitting by herself and aware of the hundreds of eyes glaring at her. Spyro headed towards her, but a guard dealt him a painful blow with the butt of a rifle. Spyro, nose bleeding from the impact, was forced away.

He glanced at Cynder with a look of remorse and disappointment. She looked worried, and gave out a muffled cry when Spyro was struck yet again, and a loud crack resounded throughout the area. The dragon collapsed, gasping as he clutched the side where his now-broken ribs throbbed painfully. He quickly limped away when the guard threatened another blow.

That afternoon, during recess, Spyro huddled in a corner, waiting for the bell to ring signaling the return of the prisoners to their cells. He was nearly asleep when a voice said "Spyro! Spyro!"

He looked towards the voice and saw Cynder. "Cynder!" Through the fence, he grabbed her paw. "I'm sorry Cynder. Are you okay?"

She smiled sadly, "I'm good enough, why are you sorry?"

"That this happened," he said, "I promise, we will get out of here. Don't worry."

"I'm not worrying Spyro. I know we'll get out of here."

"I'm really sorry this happened."

"Don't be"

"I love you Cynder."

She smiled that sad smile again, "I love you too Spyro."

The prison bell rang, and the prisoners began to gather.

"Dammit," Spyro muttered, ignoring the curse word, "I will get you out of here. I swear I will."

"I know you will," she said, ignoring the mild swear.

They were led back into the prison and back into their cells.

*****

The clock read shortly after 5:00 PM when Spyro heard a ruckus from outside.  
>One voice said, "But Chief sir, I was specifically ordered to not let the prisoners out, especially that one!"<p>

Master Chief replied, "I am under strict orders to allow this prisoner to a conference."  
>"If you have a problem with the Warden, tell him it was my idea, I will be more than happy to admit this."<p>

The guard appeared and reluctantly unlocked Spyro's cell. The Chief entered and led the dragon out of the block and into a conference room. Spyro was greeted by Fox, an older looking man, battle-scarred, and missing a finger, and a soldier in the same armor as the Chief, only red, and another armored soldier, this one in blue. Suddenly, General Elliot entered with Cynder in tow.  
>Cynder quickly took a seat beside Spyro. Elliot began, "All right you two, sorry for the long wait, but we're trying to figure out a way. I would like to introduce you to some friends of ours."<br>He indicated the older man, "Sergeant Viktor Reznov, Russian-born, but emigrated to the states following some imprisonment in his home country," indicating the red-clad man, "This here is Sarge, he leads a small band of SPARTAN troops," and indicating the blue armored man, "and this is Coporal Church, CO of another band of SPARTANs, and indicating the last SPARTAN who's helmet resembled a fishbowl with a skull painted on it, "This last man here is Lieutenant Emile. These four are gonna break you out somehow, they're gonna tell you what we got."

Reznov spoke, "The only way to break you out is to start a riot, this prison is heavily guarded twenty-four seven, we start a riot, we can escape under the cover."

Church said, "Yeah, me and my boys are gonna snipe for ya, covering your escape. Sarge here and his Reds are gonna man an MG turret, once more, covering you."

Fox added, "Once your out, renzdevous with us in the heart of Central Park. Once the military realizes you two are out, they're bound to tear this whole damn city apart in an attempt to retrieve you, so don't get too comfortable, 'cause you guys will be fugitives."

Elliot added then, "If all goes well, you'll be free as a bird by sunset tomorrow."

Spyro asked, "Important question then."

"Ask away," Fox replied.

"When will the riot occur?"

Sarge then answered, "Shortly after Rec time begins is the plan."

Emile replied, "Rest well you two, tomorrow will be a very difficult day, and no one knows when you two will be able to rest again."

Elliot stated, "If you two understand the plan, it's back to your cells. Say your goodbyes."

"I love you Cynder."

"I love you too Spyro."

They kissed and were separated once more as they were returned to their cells.


	10. Chapter X: Breakout

**Chapter XVIII: Breakout**

Spyro read the clock on the wall, almost 3:00 PM. It was about showtime. As he paced the small cell, he prayed heavily all went well, there was a million ways this could go wrong, but only one way this could succeed. He hoped the breakout squad knew what they were doing. Spyro hoped to leave with all pieces still properly attached. At 3:30, the cell block door opened and Spyro was thrilled to see Piermont and a little dragon whom Spyro assumed was the forest dragon's son. "Jesus Spyro!"  
>They hugged through the bars.<p>

"Piermont! I...I though you were dead."

"So did I, but I woke up in the middle of Central Park, scared the crap out of a homeless guy though. Meet my son, Piermont."

Piermont II replied, "So you are the dragon Dad told me about?"

Spyro replied, "Yeah. I am," to Piermont, "Where's Cynder?"

"Getting ready. Are you ready for this?"

"Yes...are you sure we'll be okay?"

"Yes. Wait for Emile and Elliot. They'll come once the fire starts. Until then, you are here with us."  
>While they waited, Piermont told how he had went down during the invasion, passed out, and came to in the heart of Central Park. He told how he stared at the vortex in the sky, even as the police surrounded him and dragged him to the fortress, where he was sedated and imprisoned in the block below Spyro's.<p>

"So," Piermont began, "What's the story between you and Cynder?"

Spyro answered, "More like a boyfriend/girlfriend thing right now, we haven't mated yet if that is what your asking."

"I figured so."

"How?"

"A mated pair of dragons carries an identical aura, yours are still different, therefore you two have yet to mate."

"How do you know all this?"

The old dragon winked, "I just know."

Screams, followed by a deafening staccato of clicks...MG fire.

"Looks like its showtime Spyro, hope your ready. Run fast, keep your head down, I'll rendezvous with you two in the red building around the corner."

Suddenly, the wall exploded and four smoke grenades were thrown in. They exploded, and out of the white smoke, Emile and Elliot ran in. Elliot tossed gas masks to the three dragons and put on his own.  
>"C'mon!" He yelled, "Go! Go! GO!"<p>

Spyro dashed out of the breach and into the courtyard. Guards and prisoners were panicking and running amok, wild and terrified. From the second story windows, four heavy machine guns were blazing, mowing down the fleeing guards and prisoners. From a guard tower, Reznov was sniping with pinpoint accuracy. Fires blazed as the HMGs destroyed the propane tanks.

Spyro met with Cynder at the prison gates, she was cowering behind a guard house.

"Cynder!"

"Spyro!"

They embraced, and with tear-stained eyes, they kissed. The prison door was locked, and Elliot ran up, key in hand, and set to work on the gate.  
>"Spyro! Cynder! Cover my ass until I can get this damned gate open!"<p>

Spyro dashed out of cover, flaming any and all soldiers and guards he saw. Emile fought his way to the head of the crowd, energy sword in hand, "Need any help?" He called with a hearty laugh before sparks flew from a nearby metal-sided building. "Sniper!" He cried. He jumped, knocking Spyro behind a flaming truck as the sniper fired again.

Emile called on his radio, "Dammit Vik! Take out that goddam sniper!"

"On it," Reznov replied.

Emile stood, SMG in hand, and fired into the onslaught. The sniper fired again, and a cloud of blood emerged from the other side of Emile's shoulder. "Dah!" He cried, collapsing onto the ground, grabbing his bleeding shoulder.

"Emile!" Spyro cried.

"Go boy! Get the hell outta here!"

Spyro dashed to the gate, just as Elliot kicked it open. "Go! Go now dammit!"

Spyro grabbed Cynder's paw and dashed out of the prison into the parking lot.

Suddenly, Cynder cried, "Spyro! LOOK OUT!"...

...He didn't have time to react. Instant, painful heat burned through Spyro's back. The pain blossomed outward, and he felt the searing heat melt its way through his chest. As if by a strange, macabre magic trick, the white-hot glowing blade of an energy sword appeared from his chest before his eyes. He was pinned in place, and he heard a cry of fury followed by a cry of pain. He felt wet liquid splash on his back and knew it wasn't water.

He turned around, the soldier that had stabbed him fell one way, his head the other. Elliot lifted the wounded purple dragon up, "You okay man?" the General asked, sheathing his sword.  
>Spyro, stunned and in shock, barely shook his head.<p>

"Jesus, you need to get outta-"

The sniper fired again, and Elliot went down as a bullet tore through the back of his skull. "NO!" Spyro cried.

Cynder grabbed his paw and, still frozen in shock, he was dragged out of the parking lot and into a park.

_End of Part II..._  
><em>To Be Continued...<em>


	11. Chapter XI: Knightfall Part One

**_Part III: Fugitives_**  
><strong>Chapter XX: Knightfall <strong>**_Part I_**

Night fell swiftly upon the city, Cynder, from the shade of a bush she refused to leave, watched as the the police and paramedics arrived at the site of the prison. She had to squeeze her eyes shut when the paramedics carried Elliot away in a bodybag. The war was only beginning, Elliot would want her to move on, to continue the fight. Elliot was but a martyr in this dreadful war she had hoped had ended with the annihilation of the Herrmann-Reid Division. "Don't worry Elliot," Cynder muttered, "You will be avenged."

Soon after the escape and Cynder went into hiding, Spyro, alert despite the blood-caked wound through his torso, began to cough up blood and tissue. Cynder knew that Spyro's odds of survival were slim, and he had to take it easy. Shortly before sunset, Cynder, cramped with Spyro in the bush's close quarters, began to feel heat radiating off the purple dragon. The stubborn warrior only complained of Cynder's overreacting, that he was as fine as ever, even as his breaths became rapid and liquid, even as he coughed blood and tissue, even as he paled, and the point of entry and exit on the wound swelled tremendously. Finally, when traffic across the street had shrank enough to allow Cynder to sneak out of hiding to relieve herself, she returned to find Spyro on the ground, nearly unconscious; his normally vibrant color paled, his muzzle changing color, now a sky blue.

It was here Cynder's worst fears were confirmed, Spyro was dying. The police, paramedics, and now government agencies such as the FBI were taping off the area, lighting it with halogen lamps. In the blinding white light cast by the lamps, Cynder saw the carnage leftover from the riot. The sight soon became too much to handle, and she lifted Spyro's stiff, cool, but breathing body gently on her back, carrying him deeper into the heart of the city. She used the alleys for cover, and even though street traffic was minimal (the NYPD had closed off all access routes to Manhattan Island) the skies were constantly lit by choppers, both news and police. Cop cars cruised around the streets, keeping an open eye out for the fugitives, and that, coupled with the dead weight of Spyro's unconscious body on her back, made mobility limited.

After many hours of wandering the streets, as the Eastern skies reddened with predawn light, Cynder, exhausted, weak, hungry, and thirsty, arrived at the immense Central Park, still silhouetted by the light. She wandered the park, avoiding all roads and footpaths, limiting her encounter with humans, searching for a safe place to rest...and then she found it. Deep in the park, a forgotten footpath ran through a dilapidated covered bridge, it was still too close to humanity for her liking, but it was at least cover from the elements and wandering eyes. She crawled underneath the bridge, trudging through the still, shallow pond, and discovered a little niche cut into the hill by the bridge's construction crew eons ago to plant one of the bridge's cinder block support columns.

She found a dry patch of land deep within the niche, against the support column, and slowly, gently, nudged Spyro's body onto the ground. The dragon was unconscious, feverish...but alive, much to the black dragon's relief. Cynder searched around and found an empty plastic shopping bag trapped on a reed. Using the overgrown reeds and the bag, Cynder treated Spyro's injuries, cleaning them gently with a motherly precision, like a lioness would bathe her cubs, before applying the crude bandage. The improvised bandage was far from sanitized, but at least it covered his wounds. Spyro, victim to the dreams of a high-fever, moaned softly in his sleep. In solemn silence, Cynder gathered a pile of dead reeds and ignited them with a small exhale. In the light of the small fire, Cynder cradled the purple dragon's head and rocked it gently. She kissed his dry lips once before laying down beside him, and staring into the lazy flames, she fell asleep...accompanied by nightmares.


	12. Chapter XII: Knightfall Part Two

**Chapter XXII: Knightfall ****_Part II_**

Cynder awoke as the sun peaked and slowly began its descent. Spyro, still alive, was getting worst. His breathing was often stalled and random, and becoming extremely shallow. Beneath the makeshift bandage, the bleeding continued, and he was comatose. Cynder walked up to him and nudged his side affectionately, "Oh Spyro," she whispered to the comatose dragon, "I'm sorry this happened."  
>She turned away as silent tears began to roll down her face. She crawled out of hiding, searching for a meal, but she cringed in fear when she heard footsteps and a man and woman talking and laughing above her. She froze, waiting, as the young couple walked out of the bridge, paused, kissed, and moved on. Cynder relaxed her muscles and crawled out into the light. The day was growing cool, even though the sun shined brightly, the shade of the trees absorbed all heat the deceiving sun emitted. She was still tired, her limbs felt like lead, but she knew she had to press on, for Spyro's sake. It had been a little over two days since their last meal, and they needed to eat, else they would risk death of starvation. Cynder was unsure of how long they were stuck here, until Spyro awoke from his coma, until he was healthy enough to walk on his own, they were immobile. Her muscles were already weak, still recovering from both the long-lasting sedatives the guards had given them the previous morning, and the gunshot wounds still scabbing over.<p>

Transporting Spyro's weight for as long as she did the previous night had broke the scabs, and had sprained her back. It hurt to move, and she had to move slowly, like a grandmother struck with a nasty case of arthritis. While she searched for a meager food source, she turned over the most recent events in her mind, searching for a solution, for reasoning. The fear that Spyro would die while she was out here...alone...tired...and helpless...haunted Cynder's sleep-and-food-deprived mind. She worried that he would die lonely, and she refused to allow him to die without her beside him. They were bonded, at birth she really believed, and she felt the urge to protect him, much as he did her after he spared her life from the exploding Convexity. The dreading fear that he would die while she was gone opened a reservoir of strength deep in her body, and she pushed harder, hoping to get back before dusk.

After several hours of fruitless searching, as the sun began to sink in the West, and the vibrant concrete jungle became a silhouette in the dimming light, Cynder returned empty-handed, praying deeply that Spyro was okay, she didn't want to lose him, she couldn't lose him. He was all she lived for...and she loved him.

Cynder returned to the bridge, tripping over a fallen concrete block. The fire she had re-lit shortly before her voyage outside of their safehouse was dimming, with a small exhale, the embers reignited and Cynder threw more reeds onto it. Spyro was still down, and his shallow breathing made no sound. Fearing the worst, Cynder placed her head to the dragon's chest, his heart beat slowly, and his breathing was more regular and silent. She sighed in relief, kissed the dragon, and laid down beside him.

"Spyro," she whispered, "I promise we will get through this together. Tomorrow, my back should be better, I should be less tired, I'll go out and make sure I find something to eat...even if it means robbing from the humans."

With these words for comfort, sleep quickly overcame the black dragon, and she slept a long, deep, dreamless sleep.


	13. Chapter XIII: Reunion

**Chapter XXIV: Reunion**

The sun rose swiftly over New York City, and as it peaked at high noon, Cynder awoke. As it had been for the past two days, Cynder checked on Spyro, he was still alive, miraculously, and was stirring, as if about to awaken from his deep slumber. Cynder felt her heart leap when Spyro mumbled something inaudible. She felt tears of joy well up, and allowed them to flow, and then, taking a look back at the purple dragon, she walked out into the sunlit park. It was hot and muggy outside, but Cynder, feeling much more better, and realizing that she desperately needed to eat, ignored the heat and moved on, searching for food. As she had thought, after two hours of searching, she still had yet to find food, so, with a heavy sigh, she headed towards the edge of the park.

At the park edge, she hid in a bush, watching as automobiles and humans went about their daily lives, oblivious to all that had happened within their metropolis in the past several days. When traffic broke for a few moments, Cynder dashed across the street and hid behind a trash can. She peered out, the sidewalks were surprisingly empty, so Cynder needn't have to worry about being seen by passerby, but the automobiles (and there were a lot) were passing, never breaking, and the black dragon knew that a mistaken time to make a run for cover would cause her to get spotted, captured, and taken away, and Spyro would be left alone. She couldn't let that happen.

When traffic broke once more, Cynder dashed towards a building with a neon sign that read in large letters, "Duff's Bar". She glanced around and entered the building. Much to her horror, the building was packed full of humans eating, talking, and drinking. However, the dragon miraculously remained unseen, despite the large amount of humans, and Cynder wondered if growing up and living in a human metropolis caused humans to ignore little details, passing it off as usual sightings. She noticed that the only humans who were eagerly gawking at every bit of scenery were the ones that were obviously tourists. Cynder made her way towards the backroom, the kitchen, where her nose told her the food was being cooked. She hid behind anything she could, dodging any humans, and waited beneath an empty table as the door to the kitchen opened, allowing a waiter to enter the dining room. Before the door closed back up, Cynder slid inside.

The kitchen was chaotic, chefs were constantly rushing through the kitchen to cook and prepare the meals before the waiters and waitresses picked up the orders to take to the customers. Cynder hid behind a counter and spotted an unguarded bag of food, ready to take out. She stole it and slipped out the back door of the restaurant, dashing into the park. "Cynder!"

The black dragon froze. She turned to face the voice that had called her name.

Fox ran up to her. "Cynder!"

They hugged and Fox said, "You're alive!"

"Where are the others?"

"In hiding, where is Spyro?"

"Follow me!"

She led the human back to the bridge, and Fox instantly rushed to Spyro's side. "I'll take care of him, we can't go anywhere until he recovers. You watch him, I'll get the others."

Fox ran out of the safehouse and ran towards the edge of the park. Cynder watched him go before returning to the cool, damp darkness of the shelter. Spyro was stirring even more, and Cynder watched him in joy. Through the dim light cast by the dying campfire, Cynder saw as one brilliant purple eye opened and met her blue-green eyes. "Cynder..." he said weakly.

"Spyro! Your alive!" she ran up to him and hugged him tightly. He placed his muzzle on her shoulder and nudged it affectionately. Their embrace broke and Cynder said, "Your alive! I was so worried! I thought you wouldn't make it!"

"You can't get rid of me that easily," he said with a weak smile, and they kissed deeply.

Just then, Fox entered with the Master Chief behind him, "Okay Cynder let's...oh! Hi Spyro! Glad to see your alive my friend."

"How long was I out?"

"About four days," Cynder said, smiling sadly.

"Well, c'mon then, we don't want to keep the others waiting."

Fox led them out of the bridge, out of the park, and to an old, abandoned, dilapidated hotel.

He led them down an alley that ran along the side of the hotel and hammered on the back door. "Fox here, open up."

The door opened and Emile, shoulder bandaged, moved aside to allow the quartet to enter. "So he's alive huh?" the SPARTAN asked.

"I'll explain later, for now, let's patch him up."

"A'ight, let's go."

Outside, the sky turned a deep purple as the sun sank.


	14. Chapter XIV: The Caeda

**Chapter XXV: The Caeda**

The moon was high in the sky when Fox was finished treating Spyro's injury. He had to sew up the wound, give the dragon a blood transfusion (with Cynder as the only possible donor), and also gave the dragon pain pills to control the pain that he no doubt was feeling, even though he hid it extremely well. The only dead give away was that Spyro was more cautious than normal, and he couldn't control it. Also, involuntarily, he would grimace if he stretched too far or worked his muscle around the entry and exit wounds too much. But once he was finished (and more or less spacing out on account of the pain pills), Fox led him and Cynder back to the dining area of the hotel, where Emile (apparently a Chef in his past life) had cooked a decent meal covering all areas of the food and nutrition pyramid. Cynder ate more than intended, but Spyro ate very little, and even though it had been nearly week since he had had a decent meal, he still acted as though he was full...and this concerned Cynder greatly.

Fox waved it off as that he was too tired, and more than likely the pain of the injuries was trumping his appetite. Cynder hoped that were the case, but she was still worried about him. To comfort her, Fox forced the spaced out dragon to eat at least half of all items on his plate, and he actually wolfed it all down, in addition to two or three more helpings. Fox smirked at Cynder, but the she-dragon first ignored him, then only glared at him in annoyance. After supper, there came a knock at the back door, and Emile said, "That must be them finally, I'll go answer it."

Cynder exchanged a rather nervous glance with Fox, the human only replied by shaking his head, as if telling her _don't worry, their friendly_. Minutes later, Emile returned with four or five other humans, all of them not even out of their teens yet. "Who are you?" Cynder asked.

The tallest one, and the one in the most decorated and fancy officer's uniform stepped forward. "Name's Richard Cummins, commander of this fine band of soldiers, but you can just call me 'the Commander'."

Cynder replied rather annoyed at his arrogance, "and who is this 'fine band of soldiers?'"

The Commander answered, "We are the Caeda, resistance fighters against the rising power of the _Maxia_, and we heard you guys might need a little help."

"From what?"

Just then, Emile stepped forward and said, "We might be in trouble Cynder."

_End of Part III_  
><em>To Be Continued...<em>


	15. Chapter XV: Retribution Part One

**_Part IV: Retribution_**  
><strong>Chapter XVII: Retribution <strong>**_Part One_**

..."We're not safe here, we need to find another safe house," the Commander explained, "Since your little adventure at that "Max Sec" prison across the city, the Government is hot after yo' asses. So! If ya wanna keep that pretty purple ass of yours where it belongs, I suggest we go find ourselves another safe house."

Spyro queried, "But Commandeer, how do you know all this?"

The Commander smiling in malicious pleasure, answered, "I have ears within the US high command, son. By the time the Government finds those wire taps in the White House phones, we'll have no more use for them."

"So what do we look for?"

Fox knelt down beside the purple dragon and said, "Spyro, I know you're still recovering from that nasty wound, but I need you to take the _Caeda_ out to look for another hideout."

"Dammit," Spyro muttered, "So what the hell are you all looking for in a safe house?"

The Commander replied, "Large, isolated, dilapidated, and long-abandoned warehouse."

"Oka..."

Suddenly, Cynder stepped forward and interrupted, "No! Spyro is in **_NO_** health to take on another adventure, let me go in place of him."

"Can you..." Fox began

"I dragged his unconscious ass across the city undetected didn't I?"

"Yes but..."

"Okay then, so I'll go in place of Spyro. The best thing for him right now is sleep and rest. Commander, c'mon, let's go before we lose anymore night."

"No Cynder. I can go, I'm okay enough."

"Spyro, sorry to say love but your as stubborn as an ass, that's what you said before you passed out and went comatose on me."

Fox replied, "Cynder..."

Cynder snapped, "Don't 'Cynder' me Fox. You know damn well where I stand, and you should by now that I can't be stopped once I start something, if you get in my way, I'll plow through you."

Spyro added, "Cynder it isn't..."

"Let her go."

The group turned to face the source of the voice. The Master Chief entered and sat down on a dusty couch. "Let her go," he repeated, "She's right. Spyro's in no health to go exploring at the moment."

Emile replied, "But John its..."

"You heard me Emile, let her go. She's a big girl, she can take care of herself."

Cynder smiled at him, "Thank you sir!"

He replied in a tired voice, "I would set out now if I were you, you'll be lucky if you can find a decent piece of real estate just to our specifications exploring this damn city continuously through till next week. But it _is_ a big city, and there _are_ empty buildings here and there."

The Commander replied, "Yes sir, we're on our way," with a weary sigh he turned to Cynder, "C'mon girl, let's get going."

As they left, Spyro said, "Cynder wait!"

Exasperated, the black dragon turned to Spyro. He limped to her, kissed her briefly, and said, "Take care of yourself Cynder."

She kissed him back and with a smile replied, "Don't worry about me Spyro. Remember, I survived alone long before we met. And I'm not even alone, the _Caeda_ will watch my back. Just sit back and get some rest, okay? I'll be back soon." She kissed him again and left the hotel. "Commander?"

The Commander turned to Spyro, "Yes?"

"Take care of Cynder, make sure she comes home safe and sound."

"Yes sir."

He saluted, Spyro returned it, and the Commander left.

...The next time he saw them, would be in the face of death.

As the moon peaked, Cynder and the _Caeda_ reached their destination...a complex of unfinished apartment buildings that looked as if they were being constructed when the US economy fought back and the project's funds were cut.

The Commander said, "This will do, I think. How's it look on the inside though?"

With uncanny speed, the Commander scaled the fence and jumped down on the other side. With the butt of his AK47, he busted the padlock, opened the gate, and allowed the others entry.

Inside the complex, he lit a flashlight and glanced around.

"This will do I think. Guys, we'll meet back here in an hour. Let's scope the place out."

Groping around in the dark, Cynder found the cafeteria. From the would-be kitchen, she heard a rustling sound. Startled, she called out "Hello? Is there anybody in here?"

She walked into the kitchen and saw it was empty. Suddenly, she heard a crash, and felt a can of soup roll towards her, brushing her rear paw. She turned towards the source of the rustling, "Hello?"

Suddenly, a raspy voice replied, "Hello dragon!"

Cynder barely had time to react as a heavy cast iron pan was slammed painfully against the back of her head. Her vision flushed red and she saw hundreds of red stars dance across her eyes. Before she knew what was happening, she was down on the ground, her head, feeling warm and wet, shrieked in fiery pain. She heard someone...the Commander perhaps...cry out her name, and she heard the rhythmic staccato of the _Caeda_'s AK47s shortly before she slipped away into deep unconsciousness...

_To Be Continued..._


	16. Chapter XVI: Retribution Part Two

**Chapter XXIX: Retribution ****_Part Two_**

..."Cynder? Cynder? Cynder wake up! Jesus Christ. 'Ey! HEY! Medic! Get the hell over here!"

"Sir yes sir!"

"Sarge, how is she?"

"She's breathing Commander...at least."

"Goddamn there's a lot of blood."

"Cynder? Can you hear me girl! Speak if you can!"

SNAP! All vision snapped back into place. Cynder could see clearly that the _Caeda_ were surrounding her. The room was dark, and she could hear rain pattering against the tarpaulin ceiling. "Hey hey! She's comin' back!" the Commander cheered. "Damn you girl!" he said, helping her up, "You had us scared to death. We thought you were in danger."

Her hearing was still muffled, and her speech was slurred, "But the attackers?" only it really sounded like "Bu fe affafers."

"Gone," the Commander said abruptly, "A lone wolf it seems at the moment. But for all we know he could have been left back on guard and the rest of his boys could be out searching for you, food, or all of the above. Either way, this ain't a safe place, and we need to get the hell outta here as soon as possible. The LAST thing I want to do is explain to Spyro why we had to plant his girlfriend."  
>"What do we do?" she said, her slurred speech beginning to become understandable again.<p>

"Run like hell, that's our only option. if that guy's here," and here the Commander nodded towards the corpse that his troops were disposing by throwing into the unfinished basement, "Odds are so are others."

"ID?"

"Masters, John; A Captain from the 103rd Armoured Division...in English, a bad guy."  
>"But how-"<p>

Just then, the two were interrupted by a lieutenant from the other room, "Um...Commander, you might want to see this."

"What the hell?" the Commander muttered.

He walked towards the other room, the medic finished bandaging Cynder's bleeding skull, and then they made their way to the other room.

In the would-be lobby of the apartment complex, the squad's radioman had turned on a small portable television on the reception desk. The President was on, and giving a speech.

"Son of a bitch." Cynder heard the Commander swear as she affixed herself between him and the lieutenant.

"...My fellow Americans, it might have come to your attention that there is reports of a possible terrorist plot inside New York City. Several days ago, CNN picked up footage of what appeared to be two large reptilian animals wandering the streets, breathing fire and attacking prison guards and a small army of human soldiers firing upon the prison guards. Now don't be alarmed, the United States military has been dispatched to the site, commencing what we are calling 'Operation: Red Dawn'. As we speak, several hundred armored units are patrolling the streets of New York City, forcing the city into lockdown, and working to stop the plot before it is enacted. I will need your cooperation my fellow Americans, this is no small feat. As of 12:00 AM, I am ordering helicopters to provide a military escort and evacuate the city. Depending on whether or not the terrorists agree to cooperate, I am placing total war on the table. Keep with us and retain order, and we shall get through this..."

The Commander had worked his way to the front window of the lobby and was looking between the blinds. Cynder could see the little slants of light from approaching vehicles shine across his face, highlighting every scar the young boy had. "Goddammit! They're here, and they're coming! Quickly! Out the back window into the alley! Move it!"

At the sound of the order, the large group quickly made haste to the kitchen, busted out the window, and hopped into the alley. From the lobby, Cynder paused as she could hear as the soldiers broke into the apartment complex and began a furious search. The Commander quickly nudged her violently, and she continued moving. She hopped down, cringing as the force of the landing surged like a jolt of electricity from her feet to her throbbing head. The Commander hopped down, picked her up, and carried her away to the rest of the squad, awaiting by the mouth of the alley. He stopped, Cynder, realizing she was being held, began to protest, but the Commander silenced her with a hand to her mouth. He peeked out from the corridor as a column of tanks approached. He hid behind a car, watching as the tanks' headlights shined off the dumpster across the alley, across the building, and disappeared as the tanks turned the corner at the four way intersection. Once they were gone, the Commander lifted his hand from Cynder's mouth, wiped it on his fatigues, and made a cut-throat gesture at the troops. They nodded, and he crept outside, dashing across the street and resting behind the dumpster of another alley.

Once the crowd was gathered, and he was positive no patrolmen were near, and no infantry had spotted them, he spoke in a harsh whisper, "Okay, we need to haul our asses back to the others before these bastards find them. There is not a doubt in my mind they have been ordered to shoot on sight."

Cynder asked, "So what do we do? I wouldn't doubt there's infantry on every street in the city by now."

The Commander replied, "Yeah, I know. Try to avoid conflict, but if you have to, shoot anything and everything you see. We can't take any chances."

"Okay, on my mark...GO!"

The _Caeda_ dashed out into the street, sticking to the shadows and sneaking around any troops they saw. Finally, after two hours, the rundown hotel was in full view, "We're almost there," the Commander said, "Keep it up."

"ATTENTION!" came an amplified voice...via megaphone.

The Commander froze in place, Cynder felt her blood run cold.

"YOU THERE! ALL OF YOU! COME HERE NOW!"

Cynder, alarmed and deeply afraid, turned to face the Commander. He had closed his eyes and was chewing his lip. "What do we do?" she whispered in sheer hysteria.

"Run. Run. RUN!"

The army ran as fast as they could.

"ATTENTION! STOP! IF YOU DON'T STOP WE WILL HAVE TO-"

"Go to hell you bastards!" the Commander shouted.

"SHOOT THEM!"

The Caeda fled as the guns started firing. Bullets whizzed by their heads, and Cynder was terrified. Two tanks approached from around the corner; the Caeda slid to a stop. They turned, but were cut off by another pair of tanks. "We're trapped!" Cynder cried!

The Commander took a deep breath. "Cynder, go. Warn the others."

"What about you?"  
>"Don't worry about me. If I live I live, if I die...I die in honor. If I die...tell your amigos I'll see 'em in hell."<p>

"I am not leaving you!"

"JUST GO GODAMMIT!"

Just then, an almost audible pop...and everything occurred in slow motion.

The Commander picked up Cynder, ran to the edge of the barrier, and threw her over the tanks. She landed on the other side, rolling and doing somersaults before sliding to a stop in the grass. Upon her landing, her fight or flight instincts kicked in, and all thought of the Caeda left her mind as she ran like hell and dashed to the hotel...behind her...she heard gunshots.

She ran into Spyro just outside the hotel. "Cynder!" he cried in joy, "My God Cynder you're alive! Where's the Commander?"

She only shook her head in sadness. Spyro closed his eyes and lowered his head for a moment. "C'mon Spyro, we need to leave here. Where are the others?"

"They went out looking for you almost two hours ago. They left me here with the Chief."

"Where's he at?"

Soldiers broke in through the servant's entrance, the Chief went back to fight them off..and he never came back."

"Did you go looking for him?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"Several corpses, a puddle of blood, and blood droplets leading out the door and down the alley onto the street."

"Did you follow them?"

"No. Tanks were approaching up the street and guarding the area, I couldn't go without getting my ass blown off."

"What do we do then?"

"Central Park, that's our only relatively unguarded border."

"Relatively?"

"The whole damn place is crawling with infantry, but its good compared to the armor."

Suddenly, air raid sirens blared. "What the hell?" Spyro exclaimed.

Hundreds and hundreds of planes appeared overhead, bombing the whole surrounding area. "KEEP MOVING!" Spyro cried.

They ran out into the street and watched as buildings crumbled beneath the firepower. "What the hell is happening?" Cynder cried.

"We need to keep moving! If we stop we'll get hit by the bombs!"

With the sun appearing over the horizon, the pair ran out towards Central Park...just as the bombing raids continued on.

_To Be Continued..._


	17. Chapter XVII: Retribution Part Three

**Chapter XXXI: Retribution ****_Part Three_**

"Spyro! Wait up!"

"Keep moving Cynder! Quickly!" Around them the falling bombs tore the city apart, ruthlessly decimating everything, and now a full-fledged thunderstorm had arrived as well. Spyro and Cynder has seized to worry about the others, instead choosing to flee for their own lives. The infantry had spotted them the moment they left the alley, and now they had foot soldiers as well as tanks pursuing them relentlessly. The tanks, mounted machine guns and flamethrowers blazing, tore through the fence, entering the park and worming their way through the trees and onto the footpath. "Hurry!" Spyro called back to the panting and stumbling Cynder.

"I'm trying!" she replied, gasping.

The tanks were closing the distance at a surprising pace, and the machine guns were edging ever closer to striking their targets. "There! Up ahead!" Spyro cried.

A large, tall building was across the street outside the park. The first and second floors had no windows, and there appeared to be only one small entrance...through the alley. The building, made of concrete, also looked relatively solid and might just be enough to resist the shelling from both the airstirkes and the tank columns throughout the city.

Suddenly, one of the bullets tore through Cynder's ankle, a brief burst of red marking the exit wound. She went down, collapsing. The wound wasn't fatal...Spyro didn't think it tore through the artery, but he worried that it might have severed her Achilles tendon. If it did, she would be near immobile.

"Cynder!"

He turned back, dodging the fire, and slid to Cynder's side. She was biting back the urge to cry, he saw, and he felt an almost overwhelming amount of love at her bravery. "Cynder! Grab on! Quickly!"

She nodded, and grabbed onto his neck, she scrambled onto his back, flinching when her injured foot bumped his shoulder-blade.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes..." she replied, "Just go."

He picked up speed, building up momentum at a slower rate thanks to the extra weight on his back. Within seconds, he dashed out of the park and into the street. He ducked as an overhead plane, with a plume of fire emitting from the tail, narrowly missed scalping them and crashed into the side of a building down the block. As fast as possible, Spyro dashed into the alley...and saw the door. "Please God let it be unlocked!" he prayed.

It was.

He opened the door and ran into the building. Carefully setting down Cynder while he closed and bolted the door. He then noticed a track running up alongside the door frame and saw a grate...much like those used in malls to keep thieves out of closed stores...tucked above the door. He jumped up, grabbing the handle with his teeth, and pulled it down. Once the metal grate was down, he punched the track, breaking it, and making any chance of raising the grate impossible. Even still, with the soldiers outside armed with powerful explosives, Spyro knew that all the grate did was buy them some precious time. He picked up Cynder and ran deeper into the dark building. A swift kick opened the door, and a couple of soldiers fired their sub-machine guns into the building. Spyro ran behind a wall, mouthing a silent prayer as the bullets punctured the plaster and studs of the wall and tore through it. Once the stream of rounds and the usual staccato of clicks stopped (the soldiers reloading he was sure), Spyro dashed across the corridor and up the stairs.

The soldiers, swearing profusely, attempted to lift the grate, but found it impossible. One of them shouted angrily, "You damn beasts of hell can run! But you won't friggin' HIDE!" then, back at his demolitions crew, "GET SOME GODDAMN EXPLOSIVES RIGGED HERE!"

On the second floor, Spyro quickly made across the large room and to the third floor staircase. These stairs were narrower and in a spiral formation. Dust and plaster rained down from the ceiling, the stairwell shook as if in the grasp of a violent earthquake...the tanks were shelling the building. He entered the third floor, and spared a moment to look out the windows. Fifteen tanks surrounded the building, firing simultaneously at it...but just as Spyro suspected, the building was solid enough to withstand the impact of the shells.

The tanks stopped firing for a moment, and a flamethrower squad approached the head of the gathered army. All at once, they fired into the third floor windows, and the pair of dragons narrowly escaped being burned as the fire whooshed into the room, instantly heating the area up as well as igniting the rotting wood floorboards. The whoosh became a roar as the team of flamethrowers grew in number and more and more flames shot into the room. The entire floor was afire, and Spyro and Cynder began to sweat as the hellish heat increased. Sweat mingled with Cynder's burning hot and throbbing wound and she growled in pain once again. Spyro found it difficult to keep Cynder on his back as the combination of their sweat and her blood mingled into a slippery mess. The place had completely ignited, and the dilapidated building fueled the flames. It was only a matter of time before the building collapsed, burying them alive. They had to get the hell out of there...and fast.

Without pausing, they emerged on the fourth floor, and Spyro closed the door to the staircase, pushing a large, oak, bookcase in front of the door. Without pausing, as the entire building's temperature raised steadily thanks to its "chimney" shape, Spyro and Cynder continued moving up. They were now on the fifth floor, and there was a single door in this single large room. "My guess is that that leads to another attic?" Spyro asked Cynder.

Still alert, but starting to grow dizzy from the shock of the injury, Cynder replied, "Yeah...I think so."  
>He nodded and rushed to the door, throwing it open. This staircase was not closed in like the others. But the sixth floor had a balcony constructed around the stairwell to prevent injury from a fall. Once on the sixth story. Spyro carefully set Cynder down and set to work on pushing another oak bookcase to block the door. Cynder, to Spyro's amazement, stood up and limped to the other side, pushing a bookcase as well. Spyro pushed his across the hall, shoving it through the balcony and watched as it crashed down in front of the door, moments later, Cynder's was added to the blockade, they nodded once at each other and pressed on.<p>

They ran towards the end of the corridor and entered the left doorway farthest away from the stairwell. There was only one means of escape...a catwalk that had been constructed across the alley and into the opposite building, connecting the two. Spyro and Cynder made their way to the door leading outside. Spyro took one step out before Cynder bit his tail and pulled him back seconds before sparks emitted from the catwalk as a sniper's bullet struck the walkway. He started again, but before he had completely exited, a tank round blasted the walkway, breaking it in two. Spyro, heart racing, stunned, and temporarily deafened by his close proximity to the blast saw as the catwalk crashed in the alley. Then he realized...there was no hope.

They were trapped, as a tank shell struck the door outside, collapsing it. They were surrounded, and flying out of the busted windows would only get them shot down by the army below. They exchanged a sorrowful glance of hopelessness. The fires had engulfed the other side of the room, and now they were surrounded by greedy flames as well.  
>"We're trapped!" Cynder cried.<p>

"I know...Cynder." he replied solemnly.

"We can't die yet Spyro! We can't! There's still so much we haven't done together! We're too young to die!"

"Cynder...it's okay...everything will be okay..."

"How can you say that? It won't be!" she started crying, and Spyro felt the deepest sorrow for her.  
>Spyro closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Cynder, if we die...we die together...as a family...as mates."<p>

Her eyes grew large with dawning realization, she knew what he meant, and she nodded with understanding. "At least we can do that much before we..."

"Before we die..." he finished.

Down below, one of the soldiers in the demolitions crew cried, "Fire in the hole!" and a deafening explosion rocked the earth as smoke poured from the newly formed hole where the door and grate used to be. "Go! GO GO GO!" the leader of the squad chanted.

Flashlights activated on their weapons, gas masks on, the soldiers rushed into the building, led by a flamethrower crew. Without hesitation, the flamethrowers stood in the doorways of every room, shot fire into the room, and moved out quickly, donating only ten seconds to each room. "C'mon!" one of the gas-masked flamethrowers said, "Let's burn 'em out!"

The squad of M16-wielding sharpshooters pushed up the stairs, leaving the flamethrowers to do the rest.

Meanwhile, Cynder could hear footsteps from below, "They're in! If we're gonna do this...now's the time to!"

At first...Spyro seemed hesitant...as if unsure this was the right thing to do...but he saw Cynder needed comfort in death...and his fear melted away. She kissed him, and he knew that if anything...he should do this for her, he could see the fear in her eyes, with a sigh...they began, knowing and understanding what they were doing. Witnessed by the warring world, the two were united, as the two became one.

The soldiers advanced quickly, moving up in a frightening pace. When they reached the door to the sixth floor, it wouldn't budge. "Outta my way!" one of the masked flamethrowers commanded. The soldiers stepped aside, and the a jet of flame spewed from the nozzle and hit the door, burning through both the heavy door and the two oak bookcases on the other side. Once the smoke cleared, the soldiers advanced through the breach, moving aside to allow the flamethrower to the front. "Come out, come out wherever you are," he taunted, laughing menacingly as he depressed the trigger of the gun and a pillar of fire shot through the length of the hallway.

From where they were, the dragons could see the wall of fire pass by the room in the outside doorway. "They're here! Hurry!" Cynder cried.

With the warning shot fired, the squad spread out and began a frantic search of the sixth floor, ending the searches with a ten-second spew of fire to add to the burning hellhole the building had already become. The entire hallway, by the time the soldiers had reached the end, was a raging inferno, and the protesting building creaked and groaned...signaling an imminent collapse.

A young flamethrower-wielding soldier entered the room with the mating pair of dragons. He saw them and called, "I found them!" then, he replied, "Wait...what the hell are you two do..."  
>He was cut off as a black helicopter, spotlight shining into the building, hovered outside the windows, firing its twin-mounted, automated, Gatling-style mini-guns into the room. The flamethrower danced spastically as the bullets tore through him, one blowing through his torso and out his back with a burst of fuel and blood. The fuel was ignited by the flames outside, and an explosion occurred as the backpack ignited. The soldier, barely alive, and on fire, cried in horrific agony as he ran around, completely engulfed in flames. After a few seconds, he fell forward. Hearing the cries, the rest of the young man's squad entered the room, were gunned down by the chopper, and wiped out by the explosion of another flamethrower for good measure.<p>

The helicopter then fired two rockets into the building, blowing a gaping hole in the wall. The side door of the chopper opened, and a battle-hungry Randall Fox peered out into the breach. He cupped his mouth and called, "SPYRO! CYNDER! WHERE ARE YOU!"

Several minutes passed, and Fox felt his hopes diminish, he was about to jump across the seven foot gap between the cockpit and the edge of the building when an exhausted Spyro appeared, carrying an equally exhausted and injured Cynder. Fox's eyes brightened when he saw the pair. Spyro backed up, preparing for the jump. The building then decided to give up the ghost. It shook violently and the sixth floor began to collapse. The portion of floor Spyro had paused on collapsed, and the dragon gripped onto the flaming floorboards for dear life, ignoring the scalding hot temperature of the floor. He dug his claws into the boards, struggling to hold as Cynder, unable to hold on, fell of his back. She cried in terror and grabbed onto the tip of his tail. Ignoring the pain, Spyro attempted to pull himself up, but his own fatigue, his numb paws (now suffering from third-degree burns), and the added weight of Cynder made it difficult. He finally pulled himself up and collapsed. "Hurry Spyro!" Fox called, "I know you're tired, but if you don't get a little boost of energy you're done for!"

Fox braced himself to make the jump, but Spyro waved him off and stood up. His limbs trembled, and with the last iota of strength, he dashed to the edge of the building and jumped over the large gap. Everything occurring in slow-motion, for a brief moment, he feared he wouldn't make it, and he began to panic before he crash landed in the cockpit. Sliding into the opposite wall of the chopper while Cynder did a clumsy barrel roll into the purple dragon. Strength and stamina now completely maxed, Spyro watched as the building trembled and groaned one last time and collapsed into a pile of burning debris.

He smiled weakly before his exhausted body completely lost consciousness...

_To Be Continued..._


	18. Chapter XVIII: Retribution Part Four

**Chapter XXXIII: Retribution ****_Part IV_**

"Spyro! SPYRO!"

The purple dragon, phasing in and out of consciousness, slowly opened his eyes. He mumbled something even he couldn't understand, and saw, as his vision cleared, Fox, Reznov, and the Chief standing over him.

"Jesus Christ Spyro!" Fox exclaimed, "You had us worried for a second."

The trio backed away as Spyro, sore limbs aching and trembling, attempted to rise, succeeding in only collapsing once more. Cynder, equally as tired and feverish, helped him up. "Wh...what happened?" he asked weakly.

"Well Spyro," the Chief began, "You were bleeding out, but we stopped the flow."

"H...how?"

Reznov replied, "A combination of shrapnel, more than likely from your exploding flamethrowers, and the scab from where you were stabbed breaking."

Fox added, "You were lucky we were able to bring you back. You flatlined four times."

"Flatlined?"

"Died, Spyro."

"Yes yes, I know what the hell 'flatlined' means, I meant that as in "I was dead?""

"Fine fine. No need to get snappy at us."

As the helicopter flew aboved the burning ruins of New York City, and the rain outside came down ever harder. Spyro and Cynder huddled together, one of the chopper's emergency blankets wrapped around them. As Fox brought them a cup of coffee, he asked, "So tell me, what took you guys so long? I was just about to jump into that burning building for you."

At the mention of that sentence, Spyro's ears pricked, and both he and Cynder exchanged anxious...and embarrassed...glances.

Fox, noticing this, queried, "What?"

Spyro replied, "Yeah...um...we had to gather our strength, we had just about maxed our stamina."  
>Although this was the truth, it wasn't the <em>whole<em> truth, and Fox noticed.

"There's something you're not telling us?"

"No."

"Spyro?"

"No. There's nothing I'm hiding."

"Spyro?"

"NO! Goddammit, how many times do I have to say NO!"  
>"Christ Spyro, settle the hell down before you break a blood vessel," the Chief replied in his usual sarcastic tone.<p>

"Spyro?" Cynder asked, "There's no sense in hiding it much longer. They'll find out anyway, and its better to tell them now then wait for either them to find out, or them realizing we've been lying for however long."

Spyro, realizing Cynder was right, submitted and said, "Fine, but you tell them. I can't look them in the eyes and say it."

"Second thoughts Spyro?"

"No, never."

Fox interrupted, "Now what in the hell are you two talking about? What's going on between you two that you don't want us to know?"

Just then, Fox's eyes widened with dawning realization, and he said, "Ah...I know. Piermont and Cherub acted much the same after they..."

The Chief replied, "Holy crap, you mean they mated?"

Spyro nodded and said, "Yes."

Suddenly, the pilot of the gunship called back, "Hey, we need to find a place to land, this storm's getting dangerous, and those lightning strikes are getting closer to us. Fox, where's the rendezvous point with the _Caeda_ again?"

"Grand Central Station."

"Yessir, we are less than two kilometers away from our destination."

"Roger."

_The Caeda!_ Spyro thought, _but they're dead!_

The helicopter turned sharply and headed towards the Western horizon.

Suddenly, the helicopter shook violently and the pilot cried, "Dammit! enemy anti-aircraft seven o' clock!"

Reznov replied, "Son of a-! Get down there, quickly! Avoid those shells."

Another violent shaking.

"Dammit!" Fox exclaimed, "We're not gonna survive if we don't evade them!"

The pilot replied, "Great, enemy fighters. Keep your heads down unless you want to lose them."

The helicopter began strafing right, side-mounted MGs blazing. Several rounds tore through the windshield and the pilot jerked abruptly before his head crashed first into the windshield (leaving a bloodstain), then into the joystick. The helicopter immediately began to dive-bomb towards the street. "HIT THE DECK!" Fox cried as another stream of bullets hit the metal interior with a fountain of sparks. There was a mini-explosion and Spyro could see that thick black smoke was trailing from one of the wings.

"They hit our engines!" Cynder cried, "We're going down!"

The downed helicopter began to spiral down towards the street.

"Brace yourselves!" the Chief explained, "We're in for a bumpy ride!"

Spyro, clinging to the leather pilot's chair watched as the broken and crater-ridden concrete streets grew closer and then...

...A violent shake, the sound of shattering glass, screams of pain, and crackling flame, and Spyro blacked out...

...Spyro came to slowly, as he opened his eyes, ears ringing, vision blurred, trapped in slow-motion, he saw he was surrounded by figures. His body shrieked in bloody heat as he watched the puddle of rainwater he was in slowly grow red. He felt something grip his neck, and, his whole body screaming in pain, was picked up and being carried away. As he was being carried away, he saw more figures surrounding his friends, still laying unconscious...or dead...in the wreckage of the downed helicopter. The figures began to pick up the rest of his friends, and Spyro passed out again.

...As he gained conscious once more, he realized he was in a dark warehouse, the sound of the rain pattering on the corrugated metal roofing and siding the only sounds in the building. A small fire was burning beside him, set in a rusty wheelbarrow. In the ghostly glow of the firelight, he could see the scarred young face of the Commander, eying him curiously...and in deep concern.

"Commander..." Spyro asked, "Commander...? You...you're alive!"

"In the flesh Dragon. Now may I ask, where've you been my boy?"

"But...you were dead...we saw..."

"You saw nothin' Spyro," he said this with a wink. "But if any of those creeps of the military ask, we're the living dead."

"You were surrounded...tanks, troops, we heard them execute you."

"It's called playing dead Spyro. When your shot, in a usually non-fatal region like the arms or legs, just stand still, watch your blood pool around you, and do not move. Lucky for us, we were trained to slow our breathing to the point where our chests barely move."

"Where's..."

"...Your friends? They're around here...somewhere...? The medics are caring for them."

"Are any of them dead?"

"Not yet, Spyro."

"What about Cynder?"

"What about her?"

"Is she okay?"

"Yes...she's suffering from a lot of blood loss, but she's okay."

"Make sure she lives."

"Don't worry Spyro, I'll make sure your mate lives."

"How do you...?" the dragon asked, flabbergasted.

"There's ways to tell. If not emotionally, physically," here he said no more.

A medic appeared, "They're all fine," he replied, "unconscious, but alive."

"Good," the Commander replied.

"The soldiers..."Spyro began.

"What?"

"The soldiers...are they gone?"

"Which ones?"

"The enemies."

"Um...well. If by 'gone' you mean that the majority we blew away with our armor, with the head of the invasion surrounded, pinned down, and decapitated by a convenient bombing raid, then yes, they're gone."

"So it's over?"

"It's all over."

"Spyro!"

The purple dragon turned to see Cynder, alert, run up to him, and hug and kiss him rapidly and tightly. "God Spyro! I thought we were finished!"

"No Cynder," Spyro said with a smile, "We survived, _they're_ finished."


	19. Chapter XIX: Spyro and Cynder II

**Chapter XXXIV: Spyro and Cynder (II)**

Spyro walked around the warehouse, exploring the dilapidated surroundings. He felt at peace now that the air raids had stopped, and he was happy...and exhausted...now that the battle had stopped.

"Spyro?"

Spyro turned quickly to face Cynder, limping towards him. "Hi Cynder."

She smiled, a beautiful smile, "Hi Spyro..."

There were several moments of awkward silence between them before Spyro replied, "So...um...I'm glad that we're...y'know...mates."

"So am I."

"I never would have imagined that we would come to this. Especially taking our roots into consideration."

"Yeah, I'm every bit as surprised as you...but more of a...pleasant surprise."  
>"Yeah..."<p>

There were several more moments before Spyro broke the ice and said, "Cynder?"

"Yes Spyro?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

She smiled, and he kissed her...deeply...for quite some time. Finally, she broke it and said, "Spyro, we can't let our mating memories end at mating for fear of death. We need to do it again, more romantic...make it extremely amazing, for the both of us."

"Are you sure?"

"Spyro, when we...when we mated...there was hardly any pleasure, you and I were just afraid, and I'm not sure the Elders would consider it true unless we did sheerly of pleasure."

"So you're saying we need to mate again?"

"Yes, only this time..."

Here she whispered into his ear, and his eyes widened and he grinned widely. "Wow," he replied, "Are you sure?"

She nodded in silence.

"Do you think we could breakaway from the crowd long enough to do so?"

"I believe we could...now's as good a time as ever."

He nodded vigorously, "I agree."

"Then c'mon," she said with a smile.

Slowly, secretly, they slipped outside the warehouse into the cool, predawn, silent city. The rain had stopped, but the skies were still overcast, lavender in color. The city still held the feeling of a ghost town, as much of it was in ruin...but the two dragons didn't care. They had one thing on their mind, solidifying their relationship...mating strictly for pleasure.

Smiling, they took to the skies and began a complex mating dance. Spyro chased his mate across the early skies. She did a series of complex maneuvers, of which he followed with precision accuracy. For over thirty minutes, they danced together, preparing for the unifying moment. "Are you ready?" Spyro called.

"Yes!" came Cynder's eager reply.

She slowed tremendously, and Spyro sped up, flying above her, and diving down. Their wings locked together, their tails and necks intertwined...and they kissed. Cynder folded her wings to the best of her ability, giving total control to Spyro. As they freefell in a mating embrace, they began, their pleasure radiating off of them onto all who viewed the beautiful event.

* * * * *

Fox stepped outside, unlit cigarette in his mouth. Struggling for a light, he glanced up, only to see that Spyro and Cynder were engaged in a series of perfectly timed complex maneuvers...characteristic of common dragonian mating flights...and then...

"Holy crap!" Fox exclaimed, jaw dropping and unlit cigarette falling out and into a puddle of rainwater.

* * * * *

Spyro and Cynder picked up speed, Spyro unfolded his wings just long enough to allow their descent to slow, and to relaunch themselves into the air. High up and arching, he refolded his wings, and the downward spiral continued. As they neared the peak, their bodies began to glow, his bright purple...almost pink, hers a darker shade of purple. In an explosion of brilliant colored light and heat, they were now dragon-shaped forms of light, Spyro was purple, Cynder black. At the peak of the moment, their colors fused, eventually creating two dragons of the same shade of purple.

After a few seconds of this combined shade, the colors retreated to their original forms, and the glow dimmed as Spyro and Cynder solidified once more. Glow completely dissipated, they abruptly broke away from the mating embrace, and floated down to the broken street. For several minutes, they stood in place, unmoving, staring at each other lovingly, and then...they walked to each other and kissed for an unknown length of time.

They had completed the deed...

They were now mates for life...

_End of Part IV_

_To Be Continued..._


	20. Chapter XX: Apocalypse Part One

**_Part V: Siege of Warfang_**  
><strong>Chapter XXXV: Apocalypse <strong>**_Part One_**

Spyro and Cynder reentered the warehouse, hoping that their absence had not yet been discovered...sadly, they were not so lucky...

"...It was...it was interesting," Fox said, blushing, looking down, and rubbing the back of his neck in humiliation.

"So," the Chief said, "It was fun?"

"Sure...we can go with that."

"Oh crap!" Spyro muttered.

Cynder nodded her head and looked away in embarrassment.

"Ah! There's the two lovebirds," the Commander said with a laugh.

"Shut up," Spyro muttered.

"What was that?"

"I said SHUT THE HELL UP!"

"Jesus Christ Spyro, calm down! It's cool, it''s cool...nothing like a little bit of 'bow-chicka-wow-wow' to end a hard battle."

"Don't talk about it."

"Spyro?" that was Fox, "Why are you so embarrassed about it? It's perfectly natural for dragons to mate."

"Yeah...but not to be seen."

"Actually, a Dragonian mating flight is among one of the most beautiful things one can witness."

"Oh really?"

"Yes really."

Spyro sighed, bowing and shaking his head. Cynder bit her lip, obviously humiliated.

"What's wrong Cynder?"

"I'm embarrassed."

"Don't be," Reznov added, "It's nothing to worry about. You loved him, and so you two mated...nothing wrong with that. Besides, if what Fox says is correct, dragons mate for life?"

"Aye."

"A good choice it seems you made."

"Yeah...thanks...I guess."

"Anyways," Fox began, "You and your mate rest easy, tomorrow we need to figure out how the hell to get back to where we belong."

* * * * *

The day passed quickly, they slept for most of it...sleeping as if they hadn't slept in years. When night fell, they still slept, but Spyro began to mumble in his sleep...suffering from nightmares...nightmares of battle, things he wished he could unsee. Suddenly, he began to glow a macabre black glow...

* * * * *

Spyro awoke, laying in an uncomfortable position. He stretched, stood, and was flabbergasted by what he saw.

He wasn't in New York anymore...

Warfang was in the grips of a full-scale invasion, the invaders currently unknown to the purple dragon. The city was in ruins, ruthlessly being blasted by artillery shells. Moles ran about, manning their battle-stations, struggling to repel the invaders. "What the hell is going on?" Spyro called, but the mole soldiers did not hear him, they continued running. Arming themselves with their primitive spears and crossbows. Spyro turned to face the western ramparts of the city, which were directly behind him, artillery moles fired into the unseen invaders.

There was the whistle of falling bombs, and an explosion partially destroyed the wall. The ramparts collapsed. Moles not blown off the wall by the impact of the shell fell into the burning fires at the base of the wall's interior.

_What the hell is happening?_ Spyro thought, _This can't be good!_

Recovering from his paralysis from the shock of this new location...he realized that something was missing...He glanced around; Fox, Emile, the Chief, Reznov, the Commander...they were nowhere to be found.

Something else was missing as well...

_Where's Cynder?_

_To Be Continued..._


	21. Chapter XXI: Apocalypse Part Two

**Chapter XXXVI: Apocalypse ****_Part Two_**

Spyro ran through the chaos of Warfang. He was confused, lost, unsure of what was going on. He listened intently as the sounds of war momentarily ceased. He still could not see the invaders, but he heard an all-too-familiar drone...

The Herrmann-Reid Division.

They were attacking Warfang...

But Spyro annihilated them...so how could they survive? Spyro suddenly heard a loud roar. He glanced up to see a monstrous fire dragon spew fire down onto the city. "Look out!" Came a female voice. Spyro then felt a body slam into his side, knocking him aside. Disoriented, wind knocked out of him, he picked himself up, watching as a massive building came crashing down where he would have stood. He spun around on his heels to face a pretty pink dragoness, running up to him and asking, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." Spyro replied, "I am...thanks to you."

"My name' Ember," she held out her paw.

"Spyro," the purple dragon replied, shaking it.

"Have you seen my unit? We got separated."

"No, have you seen my friends? Or my mate?"

He saw she grew a tiny bit unhappy, but she hid it well, "No, but considering we're both missing our comrades, let's join forces?"

"Good idea. We'd survive longer together than alone."

"Exactly."

"So tell me...uh...Ember, what in the bloody hell is going on?"

"A Herrmann-Reid Division paired up with a group of outcasted dragons, and decided to attack Warfang."

"Dammit! I thought I took care of those bastards!"

"What? The Herrmann-Reid?"

"Yes."

"So _you_ are the one who destroyed the division?"

"Yes."

"In the Valley of Avalar?"

"Yes."

Suddenly, it all made sense to Ember. The weird black clouds above the Valley, the odd sounds, the explosion...it all made sense now...

She didn't get a chance to think as a plane crash-landed into the street nearby, the impact of the explosion sending the two dragons flying. They both saw stars upon landing before they blacked out...

_To Be Continued..._


	22. Chapter XXII: Apocalypse Part Three

Chapter XXXVII: Apocalypse _**Part Three**_

Spyro awoke slowly, his vision was blurred, and he could hardly hear. When full consciousness returned, he stood, collapsing on wobbly legs once, and looked around. Ember was gone...apparently she had come to before him, and decided to leave him behind. Soured by this, Spyro forced himself to concentrate on the task at hand.

Cynder...he had to find her.

As Warfang was thrust into this one-sided war, one that would most likely annihilate the underpowered city, Spyro desperately searched for his missing mate, hoping and praying she was okay.

And then...he witnessed something he wished he could unsee.

Emile, fighting against four of the outcasts, side-stepped to avoid their lunges. He quickly beheaded one with his energy sword, but a short time later, one of the others slashed his chest and back in a spray of blood. He collapsed forward...and met his fate.

"Emile! NO!" Spyro cried.

His screams alerted the attention of the outcasts, who charged at him. Suddenly, Cynder appeared, slashing all three of the outcasts' throats. Blood-covered, she landed beside her mate, and forced a passionate kiss. "You're okay!" Spyro cried, hugging his mate tightly.

She returned it. "Of course, you can't get rid of me that easily."

She smiled mischievously, and they continued down the main thoroughfare together.

_To Be Continued..._


	23. Chapter XXIII: Apocalypse Part Four

Chapter XXXVIII: Apocalypse _**Part Four**_

"Spyro! This way! Hurry!" Cynder abruptly turned a corner and disappeared in a dark alley. The battle had calmed in between waves, and Cynder paused for a moment to explain to Spyro what all had happened. Apparently, she too had passed out and awoke in the midst of the battle, but she had awaken in one of Warfang's bathhouses.

When she had finished explaining how she had sneaked out of the bathhouse as a squad of infantry stealthily moved in to investigate and how she had just happened to run into Spyro, she said, "Oh, and Spyro?"

"Yes Cynder?"

She kissed him, passionately, "I missed you."

He smiled, "I missed you, too."

They continued their brisk run through the empty alley, hiding behind a nearby building as large enemy tank column pushed up Warfang's main thoroughfare. "We couldn't keep them out?" Spyro asked.

"Are you kidding? The gates didn't stand a chance against their artillery."

"Sorry, I forgot."

Cynder playfully punched Spyro in the shoulder, "Forgot what? Forgot that there are enemy soldiers all over this town?" She smiled and laughed a genuine laugh, "How else do you think they got here?"

"I dunno," Spyro replied, looking away in obvious humiliation, "I'm just a tad bit tired, that's all."

"Aren't we all. But, there will be plenty of sleep after we die, so c'mon and hurry!"

They continued on, pausing as a mass group of friendlies..._Caeda_ (yet the Commander was nowhere to be found), hurriedly pulled back. "Hey!" Spyro called, "Where's the fight at?"

The gunner of an Abrams that was driving quickly in reverse said, "Take a wild guess, genius!" And pointed in the opposite direction of where they were going. They soon disappeared around the bend.

"What was that all about?" Spyro queried, glancing at Cynder.

She shrugged.

Almost immediately after he said that, two Herrmann/Reid tanks appeared around the corner. Although bulky, lacking maneuverability, and slow moving, they were obviously built for sheer power, because the turrets and bodies were badly bent and dented from where the tanks had survived several anti-armor strikes. The tanks immediately spotted the two dragons, and opened fire.

The shells whizzed over their heads, and Spyro and Cynder immediately dashed back into the alley, hoping that if the enemy tanks were, in fact, pursuing them, the mated pair of dragons could lose the massive tanks in the endless corridors and passageways. However, apparently, the tanks took no interest in them, because they trudged on past, heading towards where the retreating _Caeda_ forces had gone.

The dragons paused behind a dumpster, catching their breaths. Spyro turned to Cynder and whispered, "Okay, I have an idea."

"Fill me," the dragoness replied. After some thought, she added, "Not that way either."

Spyro laughed, "Anyways," he began, "If we can locate the Herrmann-Reid's staging yard, perhaps we can cripple it."

"What good would that do, love?"

"We could weaken their reinforcements, and probably impair their repairing and refueling stations as well."

"Good idea," Cynder replied with an eager nod, "Question is...where is their staging grounds?"

"That...I dunno, we'll have to figure that one out."

"Spyro, this city is so big. It would take days to find their staging yard, and we don't have that much time. At this rate, Warfang will have either surrendered or been utterly decimated come dawn tomorrow. Besides, who said it would be in the city? They could be in the Ruins or out in the Valley of Avalar somewhere. I personally vote for the latter."

"True, but I doubt they would be in the Ruins...too dangerous. As for the city, it _is_ close to the battle, yet it's also physically IN the battle. I would guess it's either in one of the already-seized parts of Warfang, or it's in the Valley of Avalar, where they don't have to worry about danger or destruction coming to their most vulnerable position."

There suddenly came the distinct sound of launching missiles from a distant howitzer.

"Wait..." Spyro suddenly said.

"What?" Cynder replied.

"Maybe if we follow the source of their artillery barrages, we can find their staging grounds."

"I guess...I mean, their artillery batteries are long-distance weapons, and if it's near the staging grounds, it would be easy to keep a constant rhythm, as ammunition is just nearby. However, in terms of strategic warfare and expert analysis and planning, artillery batteries are usually the first to go. From a strategist standpoint, batteries are ALWAYS prime targets, as they are extremely vulnerable if you're close enough to them, and picking them off quickly would relieve one hell of a thorn in the side of the army fired upon. It would not be wise to position artillery batteries on or near the staging grounds. Being prime targets, it would be very easy to destroy the yard at the same time. Destroying a staging yard could mean defeat or victory in battle, as destroying it could mortally wound reinforcements, repairs, refueling, and reloading, the four 'R's as I used to call them. And, I think the Herrmann-Reid, being part of the elite _Maxia_ and one of the most highly trained and deadly forces out there, is smart enough to know that."

"Damn Cynder, you know a lot about this tactician crap."

"Of course," she said with a sly smile, "Keep in mind, I was a powerful soldier and director of invasions back in my heyday. I actually, personally, single-handedly orchestrated some of Malefor's greatest victories. So, of course I am skilled in that 'crap', which is why you should be glad you have me, I'm one hell of a valuable asset."

"That you are," Spyro replied, kissing her, "And what do you mean 'heyday'? NOW is your heyday! You are deeply in love, have a happy life with your mate, you are free from slavery, you are young, smart, _and_ hot as hell."

She smiled, deeply flattered. "Awwwww! Spyro! That was so sweet of you! True, true. But you forgot one last thing."

"And what is that, dear?"

"You forgot the little bun in the oven."

Spyro froze, stunned, "What did you just say?"

She smiled lovingly at her mate and winked before continuing on through the alley. Spyro, still in shock at his mate's words, ran after her, calling, "Wait Cynder! What did you mean by that?"

_To Be Continued..._


	24. Chapter XXIV: Apocalypse Part Five

**Chapter XXIV: Apocalypse ****_Part Five_**

"Cynder! Wait up!" Spyro continued chasing Cynder, trying to catch up to her. However, she was faster than him. She suddenly slowed to a stop to catch her breath, Spyro stopped beside her. "Cynder," he asked in between breaths, "What did you mean by what you said back there?"

Cynder smiled at him, and she said, "Walk with me."

They walked through the endless alleys, and Cynder finally stopped, relieving herself.

"What did you mean back there?"

"For one thing Spyro, don't try to initiate a conversation with a girl when she's taking a piss, and for the other, what do you think I meant?"

"I have an idea, but I need reassurance."

"Spyro, I meant, that you are going to be a father."

"You're pregnant?"

"Yes, I am."

"When did you find out?"

"Last night."

"But we only mated two or three days ago, the real deal last since yesterday...how can you be so sure?"

"I have...a special time every month, it usually occurs around now, it didn't...so I know."

"That's...that's so amazing. I'm...I'm so happy for us!"

She smiled, "Me too."

Suddenly, they heard a loud yell they recognized instantly, "Fox!" They both said in unison.

They followed the sound and emerged onto the street. Fox and the others were inside a burned out building, firing a machine gun into the onslaught of Herrmann-Reid infantry as they charged through the obliterated entrance gate. The Commander, bloody rag wrapped tightly around his head. The dragons remained unnoticed as their comrades fought tooth-and-nail.

Spyro immediately noticed Ember, and he stared at the girl. A small fire dragon, Spyro's size, fought beside her, as well as several other dragons. Cynder noticed Spyro's gaze and quickly got in between the purple dragon and the object of his gaze. Cynder stood between them, one scaly eyebrow raised. "Sorry," Spyro muttered, embarrassed.

"It's all right, c'mon we need to help them."

_To Be Continued..._


	25. Chapter XXV: Apocalypse Part Six

**Chapter XXV: Apocalypse ****_Part Six_**

"Spyro! Cynder! Get your asses over here!" The Commander called.

The two dragons dashed across the battleground and dove through the window, taking cover beneath it. Fox said, "Good to see you alive my friends! Sorry we can't throw a party..." Fox ducked lower as a mortar exploded against the building, "...But," he continued, "We're kinda busy right now!"

"Spyro!" Ember ran up to the purple dragon and hugged him, both the red dragon that was her counterpart and Cynder glared at her. "Spyro, meet my mate, Flame. Flame, meet my new friend, Spyro."

Spyro and the red dragon...Flame...nodded at each other.

"Who's that?" Flame asked, nodding towards Cynder.

"My mate, Cynder," Spyro replied.

"Pretty girl."

"Thank you," both Spyro and Cynder said in unison. They looked at each other with amused glances before an RPG blasted the building, and blasted their humor away.

"Fox!" Reznov called over the fire, blood ran freely from a gash in his forehead, and he leaned and panted against the doorframe, "We need to get the hell out of here."

"You won't stand a chance much longer," the Chief added. He was covering just outside the window, behind a low, stone wall.

"We're pinned down!" One of the other dragons shouted over at Ember.

"I know, Cresha," Ember replied angrily, "I can't do anything about it at the moment."

"Dammit!" Fox swore, "I'm out of ammo!"

"****! Me too," the Commander shouted, "Son of a *****!"

"We're screwed unless we get our asses out of here!"

The Commander pulled a dead radioman over to him and sent out the distress signal. "Alpha One to Eagle's Nest! Alpha One to Eagle's Nest! Requesting air lift! Repeat! Requesting air lift! Out of ammunition, pinned down at the gate, over!"

"We hear you Alpha One, state your coordinates," the radio replied.

A grenade exploded nearby, "****!" The Commander swore.

"Alpha One, please state your coordinates, over."

The Commander reached into his bag and pulled out the muddy, bullet-ridden map, he unfolded it, cradling the phone in his ear.

"Alpha One? Are you there? Please state your coordinates, over."

"Goddammit! Hold on a minute dammit!" Map unfolded, the Commander fingered a spot on the map, "Sector A16. Coordinates: 859959783."

"Roger, standby, we're on our way. Over and out."

The Commander let out his breath and laid down on the muddy and bloody ground, looking towards the sky and muttering, "Thank Christ!"

Ember stood up from cover, looking towards their attackers. Suddenly, she screamed and was sent flying back as a bullet tore through a shoulder with a cloud of blood and tissue.

"Ember!" Spyro and Flame shouted in unison, running to the pink dragoness' side. She laid awkwardly on the ground, bleeding from her obliterated shoulder. Her breathing was shallow, her heart fast, and she was losing consciousness...and her life's blood...fast.

The drone of chopper blades approached, and a helicopter, as black as night, appeared over the building, hovering in place. Hundreds of flashes appeared from its twin-mounted Gatling guns and the attackers danced spastically as they were torn apart and went down in clouds of blood and gore. It landed, and the door opened, a medic stood in place waving them over. The army ran towards the chopper, Spyro and Flame lagging behind as, together, they carried a weak Ember to the waiting chopper.

The dragons stopped and began lifting Ember towards the medic. He shook his head.

"What!" Spyro exclaimed, "Why?"

"Too full!" The medic called over the roar of the blades, "We'll send another chopper for you!"

"Wait!" Cynder screamed, and hopped out beside her mate.

"Cynder, what are you doing?" Spyro asked her.

Ignoring him, she told the medic, "Let her take my place, I'll stay here."

"Cynder, you don't have to do this..."

"Spyro," she said, turning to her mate, "I want to. I'm not leaving you alone, never again."

"You'll endanger yourself...and the baby."

"If I die, we die together...as a family."

Spyro smiled as tears welled up in his eyes.

The medic shrugged and helped Ember up. Right as he was closing the door, the Commander screamed, "Wait!"

He hopped out, "Flame, go with your mate, I'll stay here with Spyro, Cynder, and Fox."

"Thank you," Flame choked, beginning to cry.

"Don't worry about it, kid." Flame climbed inside and the helicopter took off, disappearing over the building, "Now," the Commander began, turning to the three remaining, "Let's take some of these bastards down to Hell with us."

He got on his radio and called, "Commence evacuations, we're fighting a losing battle."

Through static, a voice replied, "Yes sir."

Turning to his friends and brothers, the Commander said, "C'mon, let's kick some ass."

_To Be Continued..._


	26. Chapter XXVI: Apocalypse Part Seven

**Chapter XLI: Apocalypse **_**Part Seven**_

Spyro and Cynder stood together, perched on the eaves of a building. Cynder, her face showing no emotion, rested her head on Spyro's muscular shoulders. The purple dragon's face read no emotion, he had been forced to accept his fate, if he died, it was God's will. The lives of both he and his mate, Fox, and the Commander, rested in His hands now.

Fox leaned against the chimney, the breeze blowing around him, he didn't care anymore, and now, he sat in serene silence, ready to die. The Commander rested, laying down on the roof as he oiled the smooth, polished wood of his AK47. "Well," he said, breaking the silence, "It was good knowing you three."

He stood up, brushing the dust from his uniform.

"Onward to battle, my friends."

Soldiers charged at the building, firing onto the roof. The last four soldiers returned fire, distracting the Herrmann-Reid long enough for the city to evacuate.

"Our Father, which art in Heaven," the Commander began, firing into the onslaught, "Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done..."

"...In Earth, as it is in Heaven," Spyro continued, "Give us this day, our daily bread..."

"...And forgive our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us..." Fox added, firing all he had into the charging soldiers.

"...And," Cynder continued, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil..."

Then, united, they all said together in perfect harmony, "For thine is the kingdom, the power, the glory, forever and ever...Amen."

Nearly overwhelmed, they fought long and hard, wanting to live as long as they could...but knowing that Heaven awaited them in sweet death. As if a summon by God, the sound of whirring chopper blades neared, and a helicopter hovered above the building. "Get in!" Reznov shouted over the drone, "Hurry!"

The soldiers scaled the building via the escape stairwell, and the four remainder ran as fast as they could. Fox jumped in, pulling the Commander. Suddenly, Cynder screamed as a bullet tore through her leg. Tripping, she fell and slid down the roof.

"Cynder!" Spyro screamed, leaping down and running towards the dragoness.

"Spyro!" She cried in between gasps, "Stop! Save yourself!"

"Not without you!"

The Commander jumped out, grabbing Spyro by the horn and dragging the protesting dragon away towards the chopper.

"NO! NO let go of me dammit!"

Commander, still holding Spyro forced the dragon down as the helicopter closed and flew away. Spyro broke free from the iron grip and ran to the window. Cynder, unmoving, stared at him as the chopper flew off. She was surrounded by infantry...and then she was out of eyesight.

"Cynder! No! Please God no!" Spyro broke down, sobbing, unable to control the tears.

"Snap out of it!" Fox demanded.

"I can't!"

"I know you can! I know how you feel, but now is NOT the time to mourn for her!"

"But I can't! Her...and the baby..."

"Baby?" Fox said, alarmed.

He glanced at Reznov and the Commander, his mistake notable on his face...and he regretted it.

The city, under siege, drifted slowly away as the chopper left. Soon, even the rising plumes of smoke disappeared beneath the hilly, twilight fields of the Valley of Avalar.

...Warfang, had fallen...

-END-

**The Story Continues...**

_**The Legend of Spyro: Revolution**_


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